Preliminary Report: EMS Helicopter Crashes Minutes from Base

Eurocopter AS350B3, Brownsville, Tenn., March 25, 2010–While returning to base on a Part 91 positioning flight after delivering a patient, the Memphis Medical Center helicopter was destroyed and the pilot and two flight nurses were killed when it crashed in a thunderstorm. Night IMC prevailed at the time of the accident. According to communications between the accident pilot and the helicopter base, the pilot was attempting to beat a line of severe storms back to base when the AStar went down.